Quality Improvement Plan to Reduce or Prevent Opioid Overdose

PART 8: Reflection on Individual Learning
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PART 8: Reflection on Individual Learning
Description
The quality improvement aims to reduce negative outcomes in drug addiction overdose after release from police custody settings. This plan was influenced by the increasing mortality rates caused by opioid overdose in Scotland. I found that most people released from police custody are at a high risk of abusing opioids after release. I was enthusiastic about helping these people overcome their problems, so I learned about searching for evidence, applying evidence-based practice and quality improvement, and thinking about implementing my idea and what it means for real life. To mitigate the issue, I proposed the administration of naloxone among post-release opioid addicts.
One of the main areas of the reflection is how I collaborated with other healthcare professionals to administer naloxone to individuals released from custody. This intervention seems to work well in curbing the problem because it quickly reverses an overdose by blocking opioid effects (Hillen et al., 2022). I also learned about leadership and change management, bearing in mind that effective leadership was required to promote change. Any plan requires appropriate coordination to succeed, which was the case in my quality improvement proposal. I found that with leadership, every healthcare provider involved in the intervention would follow the set standards and protocols of the medical profession. In other words, leaders ensure that everything goes as planned. Therefore, this reflection has given me the opportunity to look back and see how far I have come and what I have learned during the quality improvement process.
Feelings
Before the plan, I thought that it was necessary to improve the lives of people released from police custody instead of leaving them to die from an opioid overdose. I felt sad to see many opioid users die from an overdose after being released, a preventable problem. Initially, I was nervous because I did not feel confident or experienced enough to deal with the situation. My main concern was how opioid addicts released from police custody would accept that they had a problem worth solving. I think that my worry meant that I struggled to intervene. However, it is still clear that my colleagues and I should have intervened faster to ensure that people released from custody were dealt with effectively. After the plan, I felt happy to become part of the solution to a community problem. I believe that my contribution to the quality improvement plan would be a significant help to most opioid users involved with the criminal justice system. Ultimately, I felt that this plan would improve their health and well-being.
Evaluation
The experience had both positive and negative elements, which have increased the understanding of the quality improvement plan. Most healthcare professionals agreed to participate in the improvement plan. Teamwork was influential throughout the process. Together with the other health workers, we coordinated the well-being and outcomes of opioid users released from custody. We developed some cr...